Coronavirus disease 2019, food security and maternal mental health in Ceará, Brazil: a repeated cross-sectional survey.

Hermano Al Rocha,Sabrina Gmo Rocha,Anamaria Ce Silva,Jocileide S Campos,Luciano L Correia,Márcia Mt Machado,Álvaro Jm Leite,Christopher R Sudfeld

doi:10.1017/s1368980021000628

Hermano Al Rocha, Sabrina Gmo Rocha + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980021000628

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Abstract

To quantify the change in the risk of food insecurity and maternal mental disorder (MMD) before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Repeated cross-sectional survey. Between 17 July and 10 September 2020, mother-child pairs who were enrolled in a population-based survey in 2017 were re-contacted by telephone for consent and to complete a telephonic COVID-19 survey. We used the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale to assess food security and the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20 to assess MMD. McNemar's test for paired data that also accounted for clustering was used. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship of unemployment and receipt of government assistance with food insecurity and MMD in 2020. Ceará, Brazil. Five hundred and seventy-seven mother-child pairs completed the 2017 and 2020 surveys. At the time of the 2020 interview, the child cohort was 36-108 months of age. The proportion of mothers reporting food insecurity was 15·5 % higher (95 % CI 5·9, 25·1, P value < 0·001) during the pandemic in July-August 2020 as compared with November 2017, while the prevalence of MMD was 40·2 % higher during the pandemic (95 % CI 32·6, 47·8, P value < 0·001). Loss of formal employment was associated with increased risk of food insecurity, but not with the risk of MMD. The risk of food insecurity and MMD in Ceará increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings highlight the need for policies and interventions to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and child health, nutrition and well-being in Brazil.

Highlights

Aiming to mitigate COVID-19 transmission, social distancing measures were implemented in many cities in Brazil, which led to isolation, school closures and unemployment, as well as potentially increased the risk of food insecurity and negatively impacted mental health and well-being[2,3]
Evidence on food insecurity and mental health in LMIC, in Latin America, that compares rates before and during the pandemic is limited. To address this evidence gap, we report the change in the prevalence of food insecurity and maternal mental disorder (MMD) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ceará, Brazil
We examined the proportion of participants reporting food insecurity and MMD during 2017 v. the COVID-19 period in 2020 with McNemar’s test for paired data that accounted for clustering by census track due to the design of the PESMIC study

Summary

Introduction

Aiming to mitigate COVID-19 transmission, social distancing measures were implemented in many cities in Brazil, which led to isolation, school closures and unemployment, as well as potentially increased the risk of food insecurity and negatively impacted mental health and well-being[2,3]. The COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns may significantly increase the risk of food insecurity through multiple pathways including loss of employment and disruption of food supply chains[4,5]. A study conducted in Bangladesh found that the percentage of households experiencing food insecurity increased by 52 % during a COVID-19 lockdown as compared with 1–2 years before the pandemic[6].

Results

Conclusion